The painting exhibition by Odo Tinteri set up in the port of Porto Torres in the Turris Libisonis Portus Sardiniae area, the ancient Roman port whose excavations have been opened to the public for the occasion, is entitled “ Migration and Manland ”.
The works, recently exhibited in the Palazzo della Borsa in Genoa with great public success, deal with the theme of migrations from the point of view of an artist who was himself a migrant .
The event is organized by the Municipality of Porto Torres, together with CISEI - International Center for Italian Emigration Studies, the Port System Authority, and the Ministry of Culture represented by the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Sardinia and the Regional Directorate of Museums of Sardinia .
The exhibition, under the staircase between the Maritime Station and the South Pier, will be open for free until 20 August , from 10 to 19.
A symbolic place was chosen as the location: under the steps that connect the south wharf with the maritime station, the investigations conducted by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage twenty years ago had allowed to highlight various structures from the Roman age. These are port constructions, buildings with mosaic floors, the remains of the road network that connected the port with the heart of the Roman colony of Turris Libisonis. This ancient gateway to Sardinia therefore represents the ideal space to address the issue of migration, hospitality and the encounter between different cultures and identities.
In presenting the exhibition, Odo Tinteri underlines how migration is a history as old as man : «Migrants all look alike, even if the color of their skin is different. They speak the same language, no words. The sea has been the cradle of their hopes and often the grave of their dreams . All men are migrants who have to deal with Nature. We are all migrants in this land. We are earth and we have forgotten what earth we will become. We are moved by her beauty and instead of loving her we mistreat her, confusing love with violence».
